“I normally refuse to join in campaigns but this seemed so important, and the ‘safety’ covers so absurd and dangerous, that I agreed” Author, TV presenter & Patron of FatallyFlawed Dr Adam Hart-Davis

“Sockets in the UK are designed to keep people safe. Our UK design has been better than the majority of other countries, for many years. Socket covers are an absolute con and totally unnecessary.”Engineering, Maths and Science presenter on TVFatallyFlawed SupporterJohnny Ball

IMPORTANT: This information applies to BS 1363 sockets only

The Lindam “Dual Guard” cover is an interesting, but flawed, design. It is also sold by Mothercare under their own brand, using the name: “Mothercare Safest Start Protect Plus Dual Guard UK Socket Covers”

Lindam’s description:“Socket covers affix to power sockets providing a dual layer of safety.” This is a straight lie, they simply plug into the socket just like other socket covers do! It is not possible to “fix“ a plug-in socket cover to the socket.

“The unique ‘anti grip’ design makes it difficult to remove without the use of a tool.” The anti grip design is a good idea, and essential if a socket cover is to be made difficult to remove, but the poor implementation and failure to make the pins the right size have resulted in a cover which is easy to remove!

“The Lindam Dual Locking Socket Covers have been developed to supersede like for like products, through design and rigorous testing.” To describe them as “Dual Locking Socket Covers” is simply not true, some retailers advertise them as “Lockable” equally untrue, they do have a lock symbol on the extraction screw in the centre of the cover, when the screw is turned the cover is pushed out, but it is NOT a lock! Your guess is as good as ours as to what the rest means, but it is very clear that the design is faulty, and they have not rigorously tested them.

As mentioned above, the pins are all made to the wrong size, they are too thick and too short, but the most serious fault is that the ends of the pins are too pointed, which makes it impossible for some socket contacts to grasp them. There is also a problem with the shape of the cover itself, we found it impossible to get the cover to sit right up against the socket, even in sockets which did not push it out. It is not the easiest cover to insert upside down, but when it is pushed in that way up the shutters are held open and it can be very difficult to release!